What Interviews Tell Providers About Managing Disposable Batteries for Hearing Aids

By Torri Ann Woodruff and colleagues at University of Connecticut

There is an almost universal component to hearing aids that is largely underdiscussed, and that is the batteries. For individuals with hearing aids, the batteries can be a barrier to successful device use due to recurring costs, maintenance, and care. The cost of replacing batteries is estimated to be an additional $100 every year. 

Individuals can choose to replace batteries on a schedule or an as-needed basis. For many people, a low-battery audio alert comes from the hearing aid as a descending series of beeps, or a notification is sent to your phone letting you know that soon the battery powering your device will be done. It is decision time. How do you proceed?

We at the Aural Rehabilitation Lab at the University of Connecticut partnered with the battery industry to learn from hearing aid users about what they do when it is time to change their batteries. This research used a qualitative approach where the focus was on learning directly from people who have first-hand experience with hearing aid batteries. Personal interviews gave us a way of learning directly from hearing aid users as the experts. 

From there, we developed general trends based on what individuals with hearing loss told us. Fourteen adults who wear hearing aids took part in interviews about their experiences with hearing aid batteries and how they manage when the time comes to change the batteries. 

The two major trends uncovered in these interviews were challenges around changing batteries and user strategies for changing batteries. Each theme was further explored based on exactly what participants said in their interviews.

The Challenge of Changing Batteries

When discussing the challenges surrounding changing batteries, participants in the interviews talked about concerns regarding where it was appropriate to change a battery, facing sensory challenges, and a need for more information about batteries. 

During the interviews, participants noted that there are challenges that come with having to change a hearing aid battery in front of other people. Sometimes the act of taking out a hearing aid and people seeing it was the concern. Other times it was the need to have to tell people that they could not hear them while changing the battery. 

Another challenge when changing hearing aid batteries is that it can be hard to manipulate such a small battery. Some participants noticed that they tended to drop the hearing aid battery because it was so small. Others noticed that once they dropped it, since they could not hear where it fell, they had trouble finding it afterward. 

Everyone interviewed also talked about proactive strategies that they used to keep their hearing aids running. These strategies included keeping battery “stashes,” waiting to replace batteries until the last possible moment, and making cost-conscious decisions about when to buy batteries. 

In the interviews, participants listed numerous places they store their hearing aid batteries, including backpacks, purses, cars, and special pouches. Having batteries accessible in various locations was important to many participants because they were waiting for batteries to fully die before replacing them. 

By waiting until the battery died, the interviewees reported that they got the longest life possible. A long life was important to participants because of the cost associated with changing batteries. This is an additional recurring cost that is not discussed as much as programming visits, earmold remakes, and other steps to getting a hearing aid. 

Additional Strategies

Each person faces a unique journey with their hearing. After talking with these participants, we put together a brief list of tips to help manage hearing aid batteries. 

Self-advocacy: Speaking up and advocating for your listening and access needs can be challenging. Self-advocacy, representing yourself, is a learned skill. Letting others know what makes a situation easier for you shares the responsibility of communication with the people you are conversing with and helps others see how to be advocates for themselves.

Battery change schedule: If you are going into a situation where you know you cannot or will not want to change your battery, changing it in the car before you go into the building or the night before will help cut down on the chance that your device will need a new battery while you are there.

Tools for changing batteries: By design, hearing aid batteries are small! There are some tools to help with the visibility of the batteries and the maneuvering of them into your device. One option to help make the battery more visible as you put it in your device is to use a standing magnifying glass. Batteries are attracted to magnets. If you drop one on the floor, you can use a strong magnet to help you pick it up. You can also reach out to your hearing healthcare provider for specific magnets attached to handles designed to make it easier to pick up batteries. 

Buy in bulk: Cost was a big topic in our interviews. One way to try and address the cost of hearing aid batteries is to buy them in bulk. Buying in bulk can mean ordering large amounts from online retailers or taking advantage of “buy one get one” sales. When buying hearing aid batteries in bulk, remember to look at the expiration date on the battery and use it before then for the best performance. 

Get advice: Other members of the community who are on their own hearing journey are a great resource. Reach out to friends, clinicians, and support groups in your area for ideas and tips that your peers use in their daily lives.

The participants in this study provided an inside look at how disposable hearing aid batteries interact with the process of wearing hearing aids. Learning directly from people who wear hearing aids has opened up a discussion around the best types of support for disposable hearing aid batteries. It is worth noting that rechargeable batteries may help eliminate some of the worries from disposables, but this may require updating the hearing aid, too.

As the world of hearing healthcare continues to grow, the voices and experiences of those who are D/deaf and hard of hearing will continue to hold a place of importance. Your hearing healthcare provider is an invaluable resource for any questions you have.

If you are interested in learning more about the Aural Rehabilitation Lab at the University of Connecticut, please contact the authors. 

Torri Ann Woodruff, M.S., is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut. Torri Ann is interested in the intersection of public health, early intervention, and family support. She is currently preparing for her dissertation, looking at the use of family education to support early intervention enrollment.

Jackie DiFrancesco, Au.D., is a research audiologist at Honeywell Safety Products and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her research interests include safety and optimization of hearing protection for individuals with hearing loss.

Mike Kurth, Au.D., Ph.D., is a staff audiologist at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Medical Center. His current projects focus on the aural rehabilitation process for veterans. He dreams of teaching audiology coursework in the Twin Cities. 

Alison Marinelli, Au.D., Ph.D., is an audiologist at the New England Center for Hearing Rehabilitation (Nechear) and adjunct faculty member in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Connecticut.

Kathleen M. Cienkowski, Ph.D., is an associate professors and department head in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on aural rehabilitation and patient centered care. She is currently investigating how to best individualize hearing healthcare plans. 

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